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Cuomo Clarifies Fracking and Nuclear Plans

By Andrew C. Revkin June 30, 2011 7:05 pmJune 30, 2011 7:05 pm

New York State Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s energy plans for the state are crystallizing. Through administrative moves, he has indicated that he sees the need to responsibly exploit the state’s enormous gas resource while moving toward ending nuclear power generation near New York City and its suburbs.

In a text statement, Joseph Martens, the commissioner of the environmental agency, said:

This report strikes the right balance between protecting our environment, watersheds, and drinking water and promoting economic development.

I think he’s right.

I’m not supportive of the governor’s plan to shut the downstate nuclear power complex at Indian Point, eight miles from my house, which he signaled by sending a top emissary to the offices of Entergy, the company that operates the plants, to explain his decision.

I see merit in tightening oversight and ensuring that worst-case plans at the plant are sound, but not in shutting it down. (I’ll be writing more on this soon.)

It was notable to see David Lochbaum, a longtime critic of Indian Point and its operators who works at the Union of Concerned Scientists, describe in The Times article the strain on the region’s electric power transmission system without the nuclear plants:

Lochbaum, the director of the nuclear safety project at the Union of Concerned Scientists, an advocacy group, said the challenge of replacing Indian Point had more to do with transmission of existing power than generating power. Local resistance has prevented the building of new transmission lines to bring power from the north to New York City and its suburbs.
“If you took Indian Point out of the mix, one of the options would be to replace it with more power from upstate New York or Canada, but the power lines are already at capacity,” Mr. Lochbaum said. “The power might be there, but not the ability to get it to people who need it.”

Here’s a prediction. If Cuomo prevails in his efforts to shut down the Indian Point nuclear reactors, this may assuage foes of nuclear power, but it will amplify the pressure to build new natural gas power plants, and/or transmission lines.

That means more fights over the state’s energy menu are in the offing, one way or the other.

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By 2050 or so, the human population is expected to pass nine billion. Those billions will be seeking food, water and other resources on a planet where humans are already shaping climate and the web of life. Dot Earth was created by Andrew Revkin in October 2007 -- in part with support from a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship -- to explore ways to balance human needs and the planet's limits.